Garrison Estate Files Lawsuit Over ‘JFK’ Net Profits : Films: Family says it has received nothing despite estimated $150 million in worldwide gross.

Even in death, Jim Garrison has a cause.

The estate of the late New Orleans district attorney, whose obsession with proving a John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy was chronicled in the hit Oliver Stone film “JFK,” filed a lawsuit Friday against virtually the entire movie industry over the film accounting issue of “net profits” that authors frequently contend are unfairly denied them.

The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks class-action status, and alleges such complaints as price-fixing and breach of contract. It names all of the major Hollywood studios, along with the Motion Picture Assn. of America trade group.

The lawsuit stems from a contention by Garrison’s five children that Warner Bros. has yet to pay Garrison’s estate net profits from “JFK.” Stone’s controversial 1991 film, which starred Kevin Costner as Garrison, was based on Garrison’s “On the Trail of the Assassin” about his crusade. It grossed more than $70 million domestically, and is believed to have grossed more than $150 million worldwide.

A spokesman for Warner Bros. declined comment. The MPAA also did not comment.

Net profits has been an increasingly sensitive issue, with the controversy raising the curtain on the often-baffling world of Hollywood accounting. Writers complain little is left for them in the way of profits after studios subtract the costs they claim are incurred, including the percentages of box-office gross commanded by major stars and directors. The lawsuit calls net profits “an esoteric bookkeeping device that could not be practiced in any other multibillion-dollar industry.”

Among those who have publicly complained are author Winstom Groom of “Forrest Gump.’ In September, Paramount Pictures and humorist Art Buchwald settled a seven-year legal battle over net profits involved with the film “Coming to America” that gave Buchwald and his producing partner $825,000.

Lawyer Joseph W. Cotchett, known for his work representing investors in such cases as Lincoln Savings & Loan and the recent Orange County investment debacle, was hired by Garrison’s children. Cotchett said that Garrison’s children chose to file a class-action suit because they believe that there is a larger issue of fairness involved beyond their own dispute.

“The five kids are just like their father,” he said.

Garrison died of cancer in 1992 at age 70.

Hollywood’s accounting method, which varies little from studio to studio, allows a film company to assign certain, sometimes arbitrary, costs to a film. These costs include distribution, advertising and overhead fees that often have no real bearing on actual expenses.

Paramount Pictures, for example, reaped a windfall on “Forrest Gump” even though the studio’s net profits formula showed a loss. The film, starring Tom Hanks, made $329 million in North American theaters, the third highest-grossing release in U.S. history.

Only a handful of top show business stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hanks, are able to negotiate “gross profit” contracts.

In a gross profit deal, an actor, producer or director earns a share of each dollar a film generates at movie theaters or video stores, before any deductions are taken at the studio.

“This lawsuit . . . is about the rights of all the movie-making world’s talent to participate equitably and in a timely manner in the often huge cash flow that motion pictures generate,” the suit says.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.